Facts

CORRECTION

Due to a typo, a previous version of this story misstated the number of teachers in Terrebonne Parish. Terrebonne Parish employs almost 1,800 teachers.

The concerns started earlier this month when the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana reported that retirements had increased by 25 percent last year.

That report led to speculation that laws passed in 2012 are driving teachers out of schools en masse. The laws make it more difficult for teachers to earn tenure, judge their performance on complex new evaluations based on student test scores, and revamp the curriculum they teach, among other changes.

But, in a news conference Monday, state Superintendent John White said those numbers don't tell the whole story.

“There is not in any cause for concern regarding overall attrition of teachers,” White said. “The idea that the reforms are pushing out top teachers is simply untrue.”

White said that, though retirements might be up in one year, they still only make up about 1 percent of teachers statewide.

He also pointed out that retirements are only one of many ways a teacher can leave the school system, so, even if retirements are up, overall teacher loss may stay steady.

Overall, White said the state lost 12 percent of its teachers in the 2011-12 school year, the same as the year before and one percentage point more than the year prior to that.

The new laws at issue passed in the spring of 2012; data for the current year, 2012-13, isn't available yet.

There's some evidence that teachers in Terrebonne Parish are retiring in larger numbers than average, but school officials say it's hard to pick out a solid trend.

In Terrebonne Parish, 77 teachers retired last year, according to Personnel Supervisor Debra Yarbrough. That's the highest number in the past four years, and 27 teachers more than the 50 who retired last year.

School Superintendent Philip Martin said it's unwise to read too much into those numbers, however.

“The number of people retiring from year to year fluctuates, sometimes by a large amount,” he said. “It's too early to say this is a trend that is worrying us.”

Martin said the retirements haven't been a major problem for his district because they make up a small percentage of almost 1,800 teachers in the parish.

“Putting the right teacher in the right place is always something that we have to work hard at,” Martin said. “But retirements have not caused us any problems we don't normally see.”

In Lafourche Parish, the trend is even less noticeable. In the 2011-12 school year, 40 teachers retired; 15 more than 2009-10 but only four more than 2009-10.

“I haven't seen a noticeable spike in the number of retirements,” said Louis Voiron, Lafourche's personnel supervisor. “We may have seen a few people retiring a little early but not in any large numbers.”

Voiron said it's probably too early to tell if the changes will cause teachers to leave the profession in significant numbers.

“This is our first year of implementation,” Voiron said. “We'll have a better idea at the end of this semester of whether or not these changes are going to lead to more retirements.”

Staff Writer Matthew Albright can be reached at 448-7635 or at matthew.albright@dailycomet.com.

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